Showcase of Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors (SOURCE)

Youth Homelessness in Public Education

Youth homelessness is more common than one might think. As of the 2016-2017 school year, 1.3 million students were homeless in the United States (Herbers, Cutuli, Keane, and Leonard, 2019, p. 1831). The majority of those students attend public schools, yet most do not receive aid from their schools or communities. Multiple studies share the same findings: ''. . .students who experience. . .homelessness show more problems than non-homeless peers on assessments of academic achievement, school attendance, attainment, and behavioral and emotional functioning'' (Herbers et al., 2019, p. 1831). Unfortunately, this topic does not have the attention it should for such a significant issue. Addressing youth homelessness is crucial to preventing generational cycles of homelessness from continuing. How can school districts and educational staff provide for the unique needs of homeless students within public schools? Utilizing an interdisciplinary lens clarifies the complexity of youth homelessness. For this paper, education, psychology, and social work are used to address the topic. The discipline of education considers the educators’ perspectives on the issue of youth homelessness and explains the effects of homelessness on academic outcomes. The psychology discipline helps to understand the unique psychology of homeless youth. The final discipline, social work, fuses the ideas of education and psychology to state why youth homelessness matters and offers a plan of action to support homeless youth within the community. Aid to homeless youths can be provided through changes to implementing the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, increasing teacher preparation, and establishing community outreach programs within public schools.